After 21 hours of being on a plane I was enthralled to be back on land.

We touched down the next morning in Sydney and Ender and I held hands again as we walked through the airport towards the baggage claim.

I noticed people taking my picture as we walked and we even stopped to take a few photos with some fans before finally making it to baggage claim where Ann was waiting by our flights carousel.

"Hi!" She took us up in a tight hug. "How was your flight?"

"It was good."

"Well let's get your luggage and then get you home. And Ender, there's someone in the car whose is waiting for you." She smiled.

We grabbed our luggage and then made our way to her SUV where you could see Bear sitting in the running vehicle.

"Bear!" Ender shouted and ran to the car, flinging the door open, an excited Bear pouncing, jumping, and licking the elated boy.

I laughed, happy to see Ender and his dog reuniting at last.

I got Ender, Bear, and our luggage into the car and then Ann began to drive us from the air port.

I pulled my phone from my pocket, taking it off airplane mode and dialled Ashton.

"Hey baby." He answered, sounding like he had just woken up.

"Hey. Were you asleep?"

"Yeah, baby it's like three in the morning here."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I can call back later."

"No you're okay." He sounded a bit more awake. "How was your flight?"

"It was good."

"Good." He yawned.

"How's Gracie?"

"Good. She's all cuddled up next to her Daddy." He said and I laughed.

"Is that Dad?" Ender asked from the backseat.

"Yeah. Do you want to talk to him?"

"Duh!" He held out his phone and I told Ashton Ender would be on and then gave it to him.

Ashton and Ender talked for a minute before he gave me the phone back.

"Okay, well go back to sleep and I'll talk to you later."

"Okay. I love you. I'm missing you like mad."

"I love you too."

I hung up the phone and Ann shot me a smile.

When we got on the ferry I fell asleep, listening to Ender talking to Bear.

"Carter." I felt someone shake my shoulder and opened my eyes to see it was Ann. "You're home, honey."

Home.

I took in a deep breath of air as I got out of the car, inhaling the smell of the ocean and my hometown.

"Car! We're home! We're home!" Ender bounded over to me and jumped up to hug me causing me to laugh.

"I know. Are you excited too?"

"Yes! Let's go to the house! Come on!" He sprinted down the docks, Bear chasing after him and Ann laughing at them both, walking down the docks to the house with me.

When we reached the door I used the key to unlock it and walked inside, feeling like I was being sucked into a whole new world, but it wasn't new, it was just gone for a while.

Ari and Jason had cleaned up for us and honestly it looked like we had never left except for a few of their personal items on the counters.

"Wow." I breathed. This feeling was so indescribable.

Ender and I got our suitcases and took them up to our rooms, me hearing Ender yell as he found some toys or comics that he had forgotten about.

I began to put a few things away when I looked at the nightstand and saw my engagement picture with Ashton sitting there in the frame.

Smiling I took a picture of it with my phone and texted it to him along with 'I miss you. Wish you were here.'

I finished putting away my things and then went to Enders room where he was playing with Bear.

"Happy to be home?" I chuckled and he nodded up at me with a grin.

Downstairs I went to Ann who smiled at me.

"You look like you need a hug." She opened her arms to me to which I gladly stepped into, letting her hug me.

"I just really miss him and Gracie." I rested my head on her shoulder.

"I know, and I also know that they miss you too."

I nodded and she let me go as Ender came running down the stairs.

"Car I'm hungry."

"Okay." I smiled.

"Well I best be heading back home before it gets late so come give me a hug Ender." Ann said and Ender ran over to hug her.

"Have fun playing with Bear and be good for your sister and I will see you on Sunday."

"Okay, Grandma. Love you."

"I love you too." She squeezed him extra tight and kissed his cheek before hugging me again.

"Bye honey, I love you."

"Love you too. Thank you for picking us up from the airport."

"Of course. Have a fun week you two!" She then waved before leaving.

"Alright. Let's see what we have for food." I said out loud as I went to the fridge and looked through its contents to see we had what we needed for grilled cheese sandwiches. But other than that we needed to make a grocery store trip.

I made a grilled cheese sandwich for both of us then wrote down the groceries we would need for this week before then realising our bikes were in London with Ashton.

"Guess we're walking." I sighed and so did Ender as we began our trek to the grocery store.

Two hours later we arrived back at the house, each of us loaded down with bags before we unpacked them and then went to the boat to begin prepping it for this week.

I had Ender cleaning inside the ship while I gave The Halle a bath, soaping up the sides of her hull before washing them of with a power washer to get the grime and barnacles off the side.

I then went up and mopped the decks, polished the rails and washed off and dried the deck furniture before going below deck to the engine room to make sure everything was running smoothly.

Ender had successfully organised and cleaned the cabins below deck and the bridge so we turned off the boat and went to the shop to give it a good dusting and sweep and mop the floors.

By then we were starving again so we locked up and went back to the house where I made Enders favourite chicken pot pie for dinner.

I washed dishes once we were done eating and went up to take a shower, scrubbing myself clean before padding to my room to change into some pyjamas.

Downstairs Ender was watching television and I sent him up for a shower before going back up to my bed and laying down.

All of the sudden my phone began to ring from where it was charging on my nightstand and I looked to see it was Ashton calling me.

A major sense of dejavu hit me as I answered the phone.

"Hey!"

"Hey! Oh my god I miss you like crazy!" He exclaimed and I laughed.

"Me too. Gosh it feels so good to be home but it's not the same without you and Gracie."

"I can't freaking sleep without you, I don't like this." He whined.

"Sorry. It's just one week."

"I know but it's only been two days and it feels like it's been forever." He whined again and I chuckled to myself.

"So how is Gracie doing?"

"She's good. Missing her Mommy."

"Is she awake?"

"Yeah, she's currently playing house with all of her stuffed animals on the bed."

"Sounds like a great time." I laughed.

"It is."

"This will be good for you to have some bonding time with her." I pointed out.

"I know, i'm really happy about that. I just miss you a lot."

"I know baby, just a few more days."

"So I had an interview today, a guy from GQ magazine came to the hotel to talk to me, and there should be an online copy of the article on Friday. I have a shoot for the cover tomorrow."

"Oh how exciting." I smiled. "What did they ask?"

"Oh you know, about you and the kids and all of that."

"Well I am excited to read it."

"Mommy?!" I then heard Gracie's voice and Ashton laughed.

"Hey I'll call you on FaceTime." He said and I hung up.

"Ender! Ashton's calling!" I yelled out and he came pounding up the stairs, sliding next to me the moment I answered, Ashton and Gracie's faces appearing on the screen.

"Hi baby girl!" I gasped as I saw my daughters rosy cheeks and her beautiful brown eyes.

She and Ashton were both laying on the bed on their stomachs, Ashton's arm around Gracie.

"Hi Mommy!" Gracie grinned widely. "Hi Ender!"

"How has it been hanging out with Daddy?"

"Fun!" She grinned and Ashton laughed.

"We have had fun haven't we. We went shopping for some new dresses today, for our daughter of course," he added when he saw me smirk, "and spent some time at the studio and now we are having some play time before we go out."

"Aw fun."

"Mommy you and Ender at home?" Gracie asked.

"Yeah. We are. We are going to be taking people diving."

"They go see fishes?"

"Yeah." I smiled.

"But I not there." She poked out her lip.

"I know, but you're with Daddy, and I know he's very excited to have Daddy-Gracie week with you."

"Yes I am." Ashton smiled and leaned in to kiss Gracie's cheek.

"Mommy you miss me and Daddy?" Gracie then asked.

"Yes, I miss you and Daddy so much." I smiled and she copied me.

"Ender you miss me?" She looked at Ender.

"No." He shrugged and I reached over to hit his shoulder.

"Ender!" I exclaimed when I heard Gracie to start to cry and Ashton had to calm her down.

"I was joking!" Ender defended.

"She's still a baby, Ender. She doesn't understand when you're joking or not."

"Hey, it's okay. He didn't mean that." Ashton told Gracie, kissing the top of her head.

"I'm sorry Gracie. I miss you." Ender said to her.

"You miss me?" She sniffled.

"Mhmm. Do you miss me?"

She nodded her head.

"I miss big brother." She whimpered and I smiled softly.

"Aw, you're sweet." I smiled at her. "Oh, Ash. Did you see the picture I sent you?"

"Yeah." He chuckled. "We still need to take our engagement photos and family photos."

"Set it up then, hot stuff." I winked making him laugh.

"Alright, I'll start looking for a photographer."

"Cool. Well the two of us better get to bed, we have a busy day tomorrow."

"Alright, well call me when you wake up."

"Okay. I love you guys."

"Love you guys two." He smiled.

"Love you Mommy!" Gracie exclaimed.

"I love you sweetheart. Be a good girl for Daddy."

She nodded happily.

"Bye Dad! Bye Gracie!" Ender waved and I said bye one more time before hanging up the phone.

"Okay, go take a shower and go to bed." I sent Ender off and then changed into my pyjamas.

I went downstairs and made sure the front door was locked before turning out the lights and heading upstairs.

I flipped back my blankets, set the phone on the charger, and then laid down.

It felt weird not having Ashton's arms around me.

I had laid there for about fifteen minutes when I heard a knock at my door.

"Yeah?" I called out and it opened to reveal Ender standing there in his pyjamas.

"Can I sleep in here with you?" He asked me in a small voice and I realised how much he had grown up in the last few months.

"Sure, bub." I smiled and he came inside, Bear tagging along and he closed the door before crawling under the blankets with me.

I wrapped an arm around him as he laid down and I smiled, kissing his cheek.

"Car?" He asked me softly after a few minutes.

"Yeah?"

"I'm really happy you're marrying Ashton."

"Oh yeah?" I chuckled. "Why's that?"

"Because he's made you happy again."

"He has. He makes me very happy." I smiled, lightly brushing my fingers through his hair. "Now I have a question for you."

"What?"

"The night that Ashton proposed to me he asked you if it was okay if he married me. What did he say exactly?"

"Well, he asked me where you were and I said you were in the crows nest. And then he said he wanted to ask me something important. He said that he loved me and that he loved Gracie, and he wanted to be our dad and help raise and take care of us. And then he said that he loved you very much, and he had been planning on asking you to marry him for a really long time, and that since our dad wasn't here anymore he felt it was right to ask me for permission. And I said yes." He shrugged.

"Why did you say yes, besides the fact that he makes me happy?"

"Because since we met him I always wanted him to be my dad. He was my best friend and he was fun and just made our lives better."

"I agree." I squeezed his shoulders. "Now let's go to sleep, we have a long day ahead of us."

"Okay. Night, Car."

"Night, End." I hugged him to me tighter before the two of us fell asleep, excited for tomorrow.

In the morning we both woke up and began to get ready, Ender getting dressed while I went downstairs to make us breakfast.

We had pancakes and eggs and I made myself a thermos of coffee using one of Ashton's mugs that he had brought with him when he moved in. It had the name of his high school on it and just to be silly I took a selfie with the cup and sent it to Ashton.

Ender and I walked to the shop, him going to check the radar while I looked up the information for our first tour.

It was a group of seven.

I typed in their information and then the door opened, a mixed group of men and women in their thirties walking in.

"Hi! Welcome to Chase Marina Tours." I smiled at them in greeting.

Ender and I led the tour to the docks after they had changed into their wet suits and gear.

It felt a sense of a relief as I began to drive the boat out on the water, ocean waves slapping against the side.

It felt absolutely amazing when I finally got to the reef and was able to dive into the ocean.

Swimming around beneath the waves, surrounded by fish, coral, and other marine life was just the most indescribable feeling.

We took the group back after their time was up and I had Ender check them out while I went to refill the thermos with coffee.

"Hey End, since the next group is only three people, would you mind staying here and inputing all of the new reservations for me?" I asked when I got back to the shop.

"Sure." He took a seat behind the desk and I told him to send the group to me when they arrived and I walked back to the boat.

Once the family and their only child arrived I began the drive to the reefs and was only a few miles out when Ender radioed me.

"Car?"

"Yeah?" I picked up the hand held radio and spoke into it.

"There's like twenty girls at the shop."

"Girls?"

"Yeah. Like fans of Ashton's band. One of them just opened the door and saw me sitting here and then screamed and closed the door. And now they're asking me if we have any tours left."

"Uh. Okay." I radioed back. I didn't know what to say. "I'll handle it when I get back."

"K. How much do we sell tee shirts for again?"

"15."

"Okay." He said and then a few moments later came back on. "Can we go get pizza tonight?"

"Duh." I laughed as I replied and then set down the radio.

After I had given the family their tour we were heading back to the marina when the radio went off again.

"Car?"

"Yes?"

"Ashton's been calling you. He just called the shop because you're not picking up."

"I left my phone at the house. What does he need?"

"What did you need?" I heard him say and I assumed Ashton was on the phone now. "He said he was just calling to tell us good morning."

"I'll be there in ten. Tell him we'll call him back in a few."

"Got it."

When we got back to the marina I stepped down from the bridge and saw that there was a crowd of girls outside the shop.

"I'm so sorry about this." I said to the family as I walked them up the docks and when the girls saw me they began to scream.

I waved but quickly got the family inside so I could check them out.

"Are you famous?" The dad joked as he was checking out.

"No, but my fiancé is in a popular band, but I wasn't expecting this."

"Well, we'll have to look up his band. What's it called?"

"Five Seconds of Summer." I smiled.

The family left and I turned to Ender and let out a breath.

"I'll call Ashton before I handle that outside. Would you mind going inside the house and getting the hoodie in the closet?"

He jumped down from the stool and ran to the house while I grabbed the phone and dialled Ashton.

"Hey!" He answered.

"Hey." I smiled.

"How's it going on your first day back?"

"Good. But there's a million girls outside the shop."

"Really?"

"Yeah. But by the looks of it they bought us out of all of our tee shirts." I said and he laughed.

"Well at least there's an upside."

"True. So how's our baby girl doing?"

"Good. She had a little melt down today but we're past that and I'm about to go get her in the bath."

"Aw. Well give her extra kisses from me and tell her that Mommy said goodnight and that I love her."

"I will. I'll call you when it's morning here."

"Okay. I love you."

"Love you too."

"Bye babe." I said and he laughed and said the same before I hung up.

Now to handle what was happening outside before the next tour got here.

I opened the front door and walked out, coffee in hand and the moment I did the fans began to freak out and I smiled and laughed as they asked to take pictures with me, some already having their phones out.

"Calm down, calm down." I laughed and they all began to shush each ever so they could hear me talk. "I would love to take pictures and talk to all of you but right now I'm working. This is a business and right now I have customers who booked tours months in advance coming in and out and it doesn't look good on me if there's a mob outside my store, but I know you guys are excited and I don't want to disappoint any of you, so we close at 6:30, and if you guys come back then I would be more than happy to take pictures and talk with you guys. Is that cool?"

They all smiled and nodded or said yeah in agreement.

"Great." I smiled.

"Do you have any tours left?" One girl called out.

"We do have a few slots open," I began and they all began to talk excitedly,"but you have to call to reserve and we only take up to ten people at a time."

They agreed to this again.

"Okay, I'll see you guys later." I waved at them and they began to walk away as I went back inside.

Ender came in at the same time I did and handed me the hoodie I asked for.

"Whose is this?"

"Ashton's." I smiled and slid the fabric over my head.

"I saw all of those girls leaving."

"Yeah. I said that it was business hours right now but they could come back when we close. And there might be some more calls coming in so if you don't mind manning the desk for a little bit."

"Sure." He smiled.

"Okay." I kissed his forehead. "You're in charge of lunch."

"Got it." He gave me a thumbs up and I gave him one back before heading back out to the boat.

After another tour it was time for lunch and I went and sat down behind the desk with Ender, scrolling through the Instagram on my phone when I saw Ashton had posted a photo not ten minutes prior of him laying on the bed from the waist down, Gracie asleep on his stomach along with the caption 'Can't sleep.'

I frowned and pulled up my texts with him.

'Why can't you sleep babe?'

Not seconds later I could see the bubble at the bottom that signalled he was typing.

'I can't sleep without you :('

'Want me to call?'

'Do you have time?'

'Yeah.'

I then went to call him and he answered right away.

"Hey." My voice was soft.

"Hey." He said back and it almost sounded like he was about to cry, but I knew he couldn't miss me that bad.

"Baby." I frowned. "You're making me sad.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to make you sad. I just really miss you."

"I miss you too, Ash." I said with a smile. "It was hard to sleep without you too."

"But you were able to do it." He mumbled.

"Because I had Ender sleep in my bed so I wasn't alone. It was hard for him to sleep too but we comforted each other. And you can do that with Gracie. But you have to sleep baby. It's not healthy."

"Yeah."

"Cuddle with Gracie, she will love that, and then think of something really really boring to help you sleep." I suggested and he let out a laugh.

"I love you." He said and I could hear his smile.

"I love you too. I can't wait to see you."

"I'm going to hug you and not let you go for an entire week when you get back."

"I'd like that." I chuckled. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"Okay. Call me if you need to, and I can have Ender transfer the call to the phone on the boat."

"Okay. Have a good rest of your day."

"I will. Have sweet dreams."

"I'll try." He laughed.

"Bye honey."

"Bye."

I hung up and then took a bite of my macaroni and cheese before I got another text from Ashton.

'I really needed that. Thank you.'

'Of course :) I'm missing you too. I know it's hard when we're apart but we will get though it.'

'We will. I love you.'

'I love you more. Now get some sleep.'

I smiled and finished eating my lunch and saw that he had posted another photo of our text conversation. 'She always knows how to make me feel better. Don't know what i'd do without her.'

I set down the phone and threw away my trash, shaking my head at how sweet Ashton was.

I didn't know what I would do without him either.

The rest of the day the tours went by smoothly and we managed to fill up the remaining open spots in the schedule with groups of fans who's parents (or themselves) were willing to pay for it.

I had Ender place an order for more tee shirts and made a note to ask Joey tonight if he still did any graphic design to see if he could re-vamp our website.

I drove in the last boat at 6:00 and sent them to be checked out by Ender while I began to clean up the boat.

Taking out the trash, mopping the decks, re-stocking the supplies and tidying up the furniture below and on deck.

Dusting off my hands I took a deep breath before hopping off the ship and walking down to the shop where there were girls waiting.

"Hey guys." I smiled as I walked up and began to hug and take pictures.

The amount of people had grown, there were definitely more fans now than there were this afternoon, I guess the word had gotten out.

I hugged and took a selfie with each girl, my cheeks hurting from smiling so much.

But eventually my stomach began to growl and Ender came outside whining that he was hungry.

"Okay. Let's go eat." I said and wrapped it up outside before going in to grab my phone and then leave.

We began the slow journey to the pizza parlour and walked inside and went out to our normal table on the patio.

A few minutes later a floppy haired Joey walked out with a wide smile.

"Carter! Ender!" He grinned and we stood up to hug him. "My celebrity best friends! How's it going?"

"Good." I smiled. "How are you Joey?"

"Doing good. I'm training to be the manager here."

"Oh that's great! You always wanted to own a restaurant."

"Yeah. One step closer." He laughed. "Want the usual?"

"Of course."

Joey left to get our food while I soaked in the feels of my hometown.

Joey brought out our food a few minutes later and Ender and I dug in, scarfing down our pizza in record time.

Joey came back out to take away our plates and then brought back the check.

"Hey Joey, are you still into graphic design?"

"Yeah. I just bought a really cool new design software."

"If I paid you, would you want to maybe re-vamp the shops website? It's a bit out dated."

"Sure! But you don't have to pay me. You know I'd do anything for you."

"I know, but Id feel bad if I didn't."

"Well I get off in twenty minutes. If you don't mind waiting I can give you guys a ride home and take a look at the site and get some ideas from you."

"Yeah that'd be great." I smiled.

Twenty minutes later we were in Joeys car and he drove us back to the house.

I pulled up the website on the shops computer and Joey had wide eyes.

"Carter this computer is seriously older than you."

"I know, I know." I sighed, waving him away.

"So what were you thinking?" He asked as he looked over the website.

"Maybe we could add a store where we could put our tee shirts up and people could buy them online, and a place to schedule tours. Also I want to put more photos and stuff on there and maybe have some quotes of people's reviews from travel websites."

"Okay." He nodded. "I can do that."

"Awesome. Thanks so much." I gave him a hug.

Joey said goodbye to me and Ender and then left.

Back in the house I laid down on the sofa, ready to take a much needed break; so I turned on the television and found a cooking show to watch.

I heard the sound of Ender taking his shower and sighed into the sofa cushions.

Fifteen minutes into my show there was a knock at the front door.

Since Ashton wasn't here and I had no bodyguard with me to protect us I carefully got off the sofa and grabbed a knife from the holder in the kitchen to keep behind my back as I went to open the door.

The door opened to reveal the last person I expected to see there. Harry.

--

Oh!

I wonder what will go down with Harry. Do you think it will end well or badly? Does Harry have ulterior motives or is this all a misunderstanding?

What about Ashton?

How do you think he will handle this break if he's already not doing good so far?

More to come!

much love xx-M